@ReadSimplified
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I help teachers get struggling readers to grade level in weeks, not years. Founder, Reading Simplified · Lead developer, IES-funded TRI · https://nitter.cf/t.co/Dj9T7Qyufd
Colorado Springs, CO
Joined June 2013
- Tweets4.5K
- Following541
- Followers2.9K
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How long-standing and how deep is the science on early reading acquisition? Check out our hyperlinked timeline of history's heavy hitters. readingsimplified.com/scienc… #notnewnews #sor #scienceofreading @ehanford
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
This piece is excellent: on the wrenching decision many Black parents face when it comes to their children's schooling. drmiah.substack.com/p/the-im…
Yes, this is all true. I lived through it as an educator for 20+ years.
This is one of the craziest and most fascinating podcasts I've ever listened to.
Here's the backstory:
Millions of children are struggling to learn how to read.
But the problem isn't kids–it's how kids are being taught.
In the 2000s, schools stopped using phonics (sounding out words) for a new reading system called three-cuing (guessing unfamiliar words using context clues).
But that new system turned out to be based on false data.
Researchers tried to show it was ineffective, but politics and publishers got in the way and delayed changes in our reading system for decades.
One publisher made over $1 billion selling books to schools on a reading system that didn't work.
Now, 20-years later, schools are finally reversing course and going back to teaching phonics. But so much damage has already been done.
The podcast is called "Sold a Story" and it dives into the science, history, profits, and politics behind the reading wars.
If you're an educator, parent, or teacher, you have to listen to this podcast.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
A 12 year old boy walks into my office having already seen a psychiatrist, an allergist, a lung doctor, maybe a GI doctor. Seven different drugs by age 12. Kicked out of kindergarten for being disruptive. Diagnosed with ADHD and put on stimulant medication for years.
Nobody connected the dots. He also had asthma, headaches, stomachaches, insomnia. Each doctor treated their one piece and ignored the rest.
I did a full workup instead of writing another prescription. His gut microbiome was a mess. Leaky gut. Elevated gluten antibodies. Reacting to dairy. Fungal overgrowth. Low zinc, low magnesium, low B6, low folate, low omega 3s. Lead toxicity.
He ate only processed food. Never a vegetable in his life.
So we removed the gluten, dairy, sugar and processed food. Rebuilt his microbiome with probiotics. Treated the fungal overgrowth. Chelated the lead. Corrected the nutrient deficiencies with magnesium, zinc, fish oil.
Two months later his mother brought him back. No more symptoms. No more meds. No more behavioral issues.
And his handwriting went from illegible to perfect penmanship. Same kid, same brain, two months apart.
That handwriting change is what made me write The UltraMind Solution. A brain that chaotic and disorganized became coherent and synchronized once we fixed what was happening in his body. The writing on the page was just a reflection of what was happening in his gut.
ADHD is not a brain problem. It's a systemic problem that shows up in the brain. If your kid's brain isn't working right, don't just look north of the neck. Look at what's happening south of the border first.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
ALL school districts need to embrace the one or two really nerdy teachers that read 50 educational books a year or listen to podcasts on a daily or weekly basis. The ones with really good outcomes with their students year after year. I've heard too many stories from teachers on here that they are basically deemed the "difficult" teacher or are just sidelined in their district. Not all schools/districts do this, but far too many. This is a call to admin. It is perfectly fine if a teacher knows far more than you. Listen to them. Learn from them. Appreciate them. Put them in positions to help improve your district. Admin that do this are truly the best. It is about the kids. That is what we are all here for.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
A wonderful tribute to the victims of 9/11 by Sky Element Drones, 2,977 Lights over New York Harbor. One light for every life lost.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
Like others, I am very struck by the PISA results and how reading scores are down across industrialized nations. Also interesting that the UK did not decline ... would love someone to talk a bit about its approaches. edweek.org/teaching-learning…
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
“When you chase 5 rabbits, you catch none of them.” 🐇
@Doug_Lemov broke this down for us, and we can’t unhear it.
He stops practice with five coaching points. All five are correct: pass on the ground with pace, receive on your back foot, eyes up, move it side to side, push higher.
“Got it? Go.”
Working memory holds about one thing at a time. So either the player picks one at random, and now you can’t reinforce anything, because you don’t know which one he picked, or they remember none of it and quietly get good at practicing while ignoring you.
You didn’t teach five things.
You taught them to tune you out.
One rabbit. 🐇
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
I continue to see reference to "background knowledge" in discussions of comprehension, but knowledge is hardly in the background. It is at the forefront of comprehension, shaping what we understand and determining the richness of the meaning that we construct.
Tickled pink that a funky researcher term "set for variability" is the #1 Greatest Hit for @reachallreaders podcast! It's sneaking in as potentially the 2nd most important decoding strategy readers need. Listen here: open.spotify.com/episode/65K…
We expected the Sold a Story podcast and the SOR movement and 40+ state laws would put an end to anti-science approaches like this. But, alas, no.
In the last month I've heard 2 stories of the 3-cueing method in action, such as this recent PD in a wealthy district (pic below). One the one hand some places are still telling kids that "getting their mouth ready" is a reading strategy and in other places educators are teaching kinders what a fricative is.
Hard to know how to affect change in a bipolar world.
> "if kids aren't being taught to sound out words, then how are they being taught to read?"
Teachers tell students to just guess at the words.
When I say this, people think I mean it metaphorically, but no, I mean students are being told to literally guess at words.
Here's a teacher training video where a teacher demonstrates how she teaches a class of kindergarteners to "read" a word that THEY CAN'T SEE
The teacher refers to this as "reading and analyzing text".
She was taught that guessing at pictures IS reading, and now parrots that nonsense to any other students, parents, and teachers who will listen.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
Remembering the late, great Dolly, who brought joy, comfort and inspiration to so many - including the millions of children given free books through her Imagination Library. We will always ❤️ you.
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
Doll was the queen of Tennessee.
Dolly Parton gave her entire life to this state.
Because of her, every child in this state receives a book each year from birth until they start kindergarten.
May the angels welcome her home to paradise.
Honored to be a guest on Holly Korbey’s The Bell Ringer. Thrilled to see more convos about enhancing reading instruction! Watch/listen 👇🏾
Watch or read the interview with Nora, Holly Korbey, and me about linguistic phonics here:
hollykorbey.substack.com/p/i…
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
"The pace of linguistic phonics is a major draw for Kimberly Hart, an instructional coach in Bleckley County schools in Georgia, which uses Reading Simplified. She says it moves faster than the program the district was using before, helping kindergarteners in her district to read longer words and connected text faster than in previous years."
They surpassed 90% in DIBLES 1st yr!
❝The blueprint for text use in early literacy isn’t an “either/or” choice—it’s a parallel track.
Use decodable books for what they are good for: building a stable, independent runway for decoding and immediate comprehension. But at the exact same time, feed their minds with uncontrolled, complex text that challenges their intellect and builds their world.❞
"The truth is, there is no magical graduation day [for decodable books], and decodable texts were never meant to be an isolated island where we leave children until they are proficient readers."
I wrote this, even though I write decodable books and work on their integration, because decodable books are not a destination or the only resource needed. They are ONE PIECE in a comprehensive structured literacy program.
expressreaders.org/the-decod…
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
WHEN A CHILD IS FALLING APART, REMEMBER: LESS TALK. MORE CALM.
When a child or teen is having huge emotions, intense anxiety, or is on the edge of a panic attack, our instinct is often to talk MORE.
We explain.
We reassure.
We ask questions.
We give advice.
We try to convince them everything is okay.
But in that moment, they may not need a better explanation.
They need to borrow your calm.
Remember the 4 S’s:
-SOFT
-SLOW
-SHORT
-SAFE
🗣️ SOFT — Lower your voice.
Not louder. Not firmer. Softer. Your tone can communicate safety before your words ever do.
🐢 SLOW — Slow everything down.
Your voice. Your movements. Your breathing. Your questions. Their nervous system is speeding up. Yours doesn’t have to join it.
🤫 SHORT — Use fewer words.
An overwhelmed brain may struggle to process a lecture, a bunch of questions, or complicated directions.
Try:
💙 “I’m right here.”
🫶 “You’re safe with me.”
⏳ “Take your time.”
❤️ “We don’t have to solve this right now.”
1️⃣ “One thing at a time.”
🌬️ “Breathe with me.”
🛟 SAFE — Be the safe person, not the problem solver.
Sit nearby. Give them space. Reduce noise and stimulation. Don’t demand eye contact. Don’t argue with the emotion. And please don’t keep saying, “Calm down.”
Help their BODY feel safe first.
Then talk.
Because when someone is drowning in a big emotion, they usually don’t need us standing on shore explaining how to swim.
They need us to help them get their head above water. 🛟
So next time a child, teen—or honestly, an adult—is overwhelmed, remember:
🗣️ SOFT.
🐢 SLOW.
🤫 SHORT.
🛟 SAFE.
You don’t need the perfect words.
❤️ Sometimes your calm IS the intervention.
🔖 SAVE THIS for the moment you need it.
❤️ SHARE it with a parent, teacher, coach, counselor, or anyone who works with kids.
— Dr. Bryan Pearlman
Therapist • Former Principal & Teacher
#ParentingTips #ChildMentalHealth #AnxietySupport #EmotionalRegulation #BackToSchool
Marnie Ginsberg retweeted
In 2015 David Kilpatrick's analysis of reading interventions found just 4 programs had out-sized results: LiPS, Phono-Graphix, Discover Reading (a fusion of first two), & Read, Write & Type. These approaches got 12 to 25 standard score point gains, as compared to well known programs with gains of 0-6 SS points (i.e., Wilson, Read 180, LLI, Reading Recovery). He didn't note it at the time, but all "Highly Successful" programs orient instruction from the sound. 3 of the 4 methods are linguistic phonics. (See ch. 11 of his Essentials book.)
A New Phonics Debate Shows How the 'Science of Reading' Movement Is Evolving edweek.org/teaching-learning…
